ST. PAUL, Minn. — With four of the top six teams in the country taking the ice at the Xcel Energy Center after becoming familiar with each other throughout the regular season, execution and energy stood as the main determinants.
Wisconsin came out flat and fell behind in Friday's semifinal matchup against St. Cloud State, and a flurry of third period opportunities failed to yield anything as the Badgers lost 2-0. In the consolation game on Saturday afternoon, the Badgers squared off with top-ranked Denver and stormed to three first period goals, cruising to a 6-3 victory.
On Friday, the Badgers not only got off to a sluggish start, they also had to deal with a hot goaltender. Freshman Husky Mike Lee turned in a brilliant performance, stopping each of the 37 shots he faced. 20 of those came in a third period that saw Wisconsin control play and find scoring chances seemingly at will, only to be shut down. Early in the game, however, the Badgers failed to find any sort of rhythm, allowing Lee to gain confidence early on his way to a shutout.
""I feel like we made it easy for him in the first period,"" senior forward Michael Davies said. ""We weren't getting traffic to the net or pucks on net.""
The lack of results on the offensive end rendered an outstanding performance by junior goaltender Scott Gudmandson futile. He allowed just one goal on 21 shots before the Huskies converted with an empty net for the final goal.
""It wasn't like we were terrible, but we just weren't as sharp as we know we can be,"" head coach Mike Eaves said.
Eaves and his staff juggled the lineup after Friday's loss, in part because of necessity and in part because of the ""stale"" play that the coach said he saw on Friday. Junior defenseman Cody Goloubef had to be replaced because the WCHA suspended him for the game as a result of an open-ice hit on Husky center Nick Oslund. Goloubef made contact with Oslund's head and Eaves said after Saturday's game that the team did not file an appeal.
Junior forward Patrick Johnson found himself replaced in the rotation by junior Podge Turnbull and each of the four lines changed in some manner, providing a fresh look for the team.
""Any time you switch that up it creates energy,"" senior captain Ben Street said. ""It gets you into the game, you're talking to your new linemates, that sort of thing. I think overall as a group we were more ready to go.""
The Badgers jumped all over the Pioneers with goals from Street, sophomore center Derek Stepan and senior center Blake Geoffrion, prompting Pioneer coach George Gwozdecky to pull his goaltender and WCHA Player of the Year Marc Cheverie just eight minutes into the game.
""We had that jump and got some goals,"" Eaves said. ""If you take away those three first period goals it's a 3-3 game, so that great start was a critical point for us tonight.""
